Wear Your Seat Belt

[RCW]

As a farm kid, I grew up without ROPS on anything. Seat belts were not an option.
Farmers operated tractors every day for many hours. They knew what they were doing and the ground they operated on.

Did farmers die because of lack of ROPS and seatbelts? Of course.

For the last 4-5 decades, there's so many folks that are weekend warriors operating equipment that can kill them. ROPS and belts are good accommodations, if they use them.

Oftentimes around here, the turnover scenario is an older former farmer mowing banks around his farm with a Farmall Cub or Super C he kept from his dairy.

He's doing something he's done for 70 years but lost his reactions/expertise. Flips it while mowing...and the tractor is on top of him. He doesn't come home, which is sad.

ROPS and seatbelts are a great thing.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re:

ROPS and seatbelts are a great thing.

except they are NOT required on any ATV.......

don't know if the orange RTV that ZIPS by my place has them either......RADAR says he's doing 72 klicks.

 

[UnEasyRider]

Unfortunately...it can be found here:

What did you do to or on your Kubota today?

Happy Fourh weekend everyone Split the b7100 in two to do the clutch . Having a fun time trying to get the pilot bushing out anyone got any tips or tricks? and also wondering how crucial the grease seal for the pilot bushing is? The old one wasn't in great shape and less great after I removed...

www.orangetractortalks.com

Sorry that happened. But like you said...good thing the front was closed or woulda been a lot worse.

 

[RCW]

re:

ROPS and seatbelts are a great thing.

except they are NOT required on any ATV.......

don't know if the orange RTV that ZIPS by my place has them either......RADAR says he's doing 72 klicks.

Jay - I don’t the first thing about ATV, RTV or side by sides.

I don’t recall anyone crushed by an ATV turnover, but many have plowed into vehicles, trees, fences and buildings. Same applies to snowmobiles.

Don’t think a ROPS would have helped the operator.

 

[armylifer]

Unfortunately you have to subscribe to read the article.

Here is the story.

Southern Illinois man, 90, killed in tractor accident, authorities say


Belleville News-Democrat



April 13, 2023 1:49 PM

A 90-year-old man was killed when he was thrown from a tractor and pinned under one of its wheels Wednesday, a Fayette County coroner said.

Authorities are calling the death an accident, Salem radio station WJBD reported.

Patoka Fire Chief Blake Hyde told the radio station that the person who discovered Billy Edwards beneath the tractor believes he was already deceased. Firefighters were able to remove the body.

Edwards was pronounced dead at the scene, which was on his property off East 100th Avenue a mile south of the Boat Dock Road west of Patoka, according to WJBD.

The accident was reported at about 3:54 p.m. Wednesday. Patoka is located along Illinois 51 east of Carlyle Lake.

Hyde said the tractor had just been purchased a few days earlier.

 

[Trustable]

Jay - I don’t the first thing about ATV, RTV or side by sides.

I don’t recall anyone crushed by an ATV turnover, but many have plowed into vehicles, trees, fences and buildings. Same applies to snowmobiles.

Don’t think a ROPS would have helped the operator.

atvs are fun, but I dont see myself ever owning one if I have a lot of hills as you are the roll cage. especially with the newer atvs having a 1l engine and bring much higher and heavier than an old Honda from 2000.

 

[2drx4]

Jay - I don’t the first thing about ATV, RTV or side by sides.

I don’t recall anyone crushed by an ATV turnover, but many have plowed into vehicles, trees, fences and buildings. Same applies to snowmobiles.

Don’t think a ROPS would have helped the operator.

Lots of the ATV incidents we (air ambulance) respond to are rollover/ejections and they then hit something hard or the machine lands on them with speed. Without a roll cage (basic ROPS wouldn't cut it) and a 5-point they probably wouldn't have done any better. At high speeds you really need to be constrained in the vehicle to not be injured, as otherwise you will still be ejected or partially ejected and still tend to do very poorly. An ATV is light enough normally a low speed roll/tip will only superficially injure you. The modern UTV/SxS are a lot better in the safety department, but still lacking. The very high speeds they can easily hit, along with often very inexperienced drivers, is what I believe is making a big difference in the incident rate.

About 50% of the ATV/UTV/SxS calls we go to are fatal, and normally they died well before we got there.

Most of the snowmobile incidents are heart attacks or strokes. Out of shape/middle aged riders hit the mountains and can't handle the exertion and thin air. Not saying they don't plow into trees, go off cliffs, or get buried in avalanches, but being out of shape is the main killer. It would be very different statistics in the flat lands of the east where high speed and hard objects would likely be the main issue.

 

[armylifer]

Jay - I don’t the first thing about ATV, RTV or side by sides.

I don’t recall anyone crushed by an ATV turnover, but many have plowed into vehicles, trees, fences and buildings. Same applies to snowmobiles.

Don’t think a ROPS would have helped the operator.

10 years ago I went off a 30 foot cliff on my 4 wheel ATV. The ATV landed on my chest and broke 4 ribs on one side and 3 ribs on the other side of my chest. I had what they called flail chest injuries and I almost died. I lost half of my right lung from a rib puncturing it.

The moral of that story is that you may survive a horrific accident or you can be taken out by an infection from a blister like Woodrow Wilson's son. Just take precautions to prevent whatever injuries you can even if it means using a seat belt or gloves when appropriate.

In case people are not aware of the story about Woodrow Wilson's son, he died from an infection from a blister he got while playing tennis. If he was wearing gloves he would not have died from an infection. So, use reasonable PPE if available. It may save your life.

 

[UnEasyRider]

Dang...and I just bought two Can-Am ATV's! Between them and the tractor sounds like I better get some life insurance!

 

[fried1765]

Dang...and I just bought two Can-Am ATV's! Between them and the tractor sounds like I better get some life insurance!

Don't bother......life insurance will not do anything for YOU!

 

[UnEasyRider]

Don't bother......life insurance will not do anything for YOU!

As it shouldn’t by design. It will however help my family. And by the way…I was just kidding!

 

[MountainMeadows]

When the Good Lord calls us home it doesn't matter if we're wearing a seat belt or not..............

 

[hagrid]

My glorified lawn moo-er has teh seatbelt but I find it unnecessary as the machine doesn't make enough power to be dangerous to anything except grass. And even then it's a pitched battle.

 

[armylifer]

When the Good Lord calls us home it doesn't matter if we're wearing a seat belt or not..............

But when he calls you early because you did something dumb, how are you going to reconcile that?

 

[Flintknapper]

But when he calls you early because you did something dumb, how are you going to reconcile that?

Yep.

OP should have written IF the Good Lord calls you home....not 'when' (which suggests pre-destiny anyway).

The Good Lord gave us intelligence and common sense (most of us) and expects us to use it.

More than one person has cut short what otherwise might have been a longer life, by making poor decisions. That is NOT being 'called home'.....that is human 'error'.

 

[MountainMeadows]

But when he calls you early because you did something dumb, how are you going to reconcile that?

So far no early call for me even after many years as a 17 year old know it all kid, back in the 70's, on an old Ford 841 2wd, traversing hilly woods terrain dragging humongous logs for firewood. Crossing streams and climbing the bank on the other side. No seat belt, no rops, no power steering and didn't even have a padded seat.

 

[Tpack]

ROP up----seatbelt on

ROP down--seatbelt off (that way, you can try and get away from the tractor)

 

[TheMurf]

Always wear the seat belt..Years ago at the company I worked for before retirement, we had a young fork lift truck operator working on a shipping dock. The fork lift tilted over when he missed judged the dock ramp. He was not wearing his seat belt, he panicked and leaped in the same direction as the truck was falling. He never cleaned the steel roll cage and unfortunately that crushed him to death. Always buckle up and use your ROPS protection. Things can go wrong in a hurry.